Nearly 200 nations at a global climate change conference in Morocco agreed to work out the rules for carrying out last year's landmark climate change deal within two years.

As the two-week climate talks in Marrakesh came to an end on November 19, many nations appealed to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to reconsider his threat to walk away from the Paris Agreement that President Barack Obama helped to forge.

Most nations said they would honor the deal with or without the United States and signed onto a timetable requiring negotiators to work out the rules for carrying out the agreement by December 2018 at the latest.

A rule book is needed because the Paris Agreement left many details vague, such as how countries will report and monitor their pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Detailed, verifiable commitments are required from all countries that signed onto the Paris deal.

"We will continue on the path," said Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar, the host of the talks.

"Our message to the new American president is simply to say, 'We count on your pragmatism and your spirit of commitment.'"